Campaign in the North promises to be cold - and dark
Last Updated: Wednesday, November 30, 2005 | 7:20 AM ET
CBC News
Paul Martin's Liberals fell in a no-confidence vote on Monday, 17 months after the minority government was formed. An election has been called for Jan. 23.
Yukon MP Larry Bagnell said he was wasting no time heading back to the territory to begin campaigning, skipping a post-defeat caucus meeting. Bagnell predicted the early defeat of the government would not go over well with voters.
"I know virtually all the Yukoners who have spoken to me don't want a Christmas election," said Bagnell.
"And they are a little upset that the opposition forced this."
But Bagnell admitted he doesn't relish the thought of holiday campaigning, and may even hold off putting up signs on snow-covered lawns.
"To me Christmas is a spiritual and family time. I've never had to do that before, so I am trying to think of ways to adjust that," he said.
"I don't want to show up on people's doors when it is close to Christmas and they have other things on their mind."
There's no word on who will challenge Bagnell for the seat. The NDP and Conservatives have yet to nominate candidates.
N.W.T. closest
The Northwest Territories will likely be a noted race to watch this election. Seventeen months ago, NDP candidate Dennis Bevington just missed snatching the election from Ethel Blondin-Andrew. He lost to the four-time Liberal MP by just 53 votes.
Bevington, a former mayor of Fort Smith, says he's been campaigning since the last election.
"We were very much a long shot and I think people now know that we've got a great chance of winning this riding and that's one of the key elements in this election," he says.
The Conservatives often parachute a candidate into the riding, but not this time. Richard Edjericon, a former chief of Dettah, was nominated this spring when it first seemed likely the government would fall. He was unavailable for comment.
In Nunavut, Liberal Nancy Karetak-Lindell will be seeking a fourth term in office.
"We're going to give people of Nunavut a chance to look over the 8½ years," she says. " For those of you who want to judge me on just one or two things ... then you know, that's your choice."
Fellow Arviat resident David Aglukark will run against Karetak-Lindell for the Conservatives in the riding, while the New Democrats have yet to choose a candidate.
Nunavut politicians have to be a particularly tough lot in a campaign. Weather can be unpredictable, even deadly, during the winter, and some communities will be in 24-hour darkness for the duration of the campaign.
Nunavut's health minister, Leona Aglukkaq, says campaigning is all about keeping warm, from head to toe.
"I had my kamiks on, my caribou-skin kamiks, my wind pants, a pullover parka and mitts, of course. It's cold, it's 60 below, so you have to be prepared for the cold weather. And I also had a vehicle, some days when it started, so that helped."
Cambridge Bay MLA Keith Peterson says anyone who doesn't campaign door to door in the North during a winter election would be considered a wimp.
But he says there can be a positive side to all that bundling up.
"Cambridge Bay, January, February, two coldest months of the year, it was -40, -50," he recalls. "I was out there stomping around. Maybe people took pity on me when I came in. I was all frosted up. They'd let me in and fill me up with a lot of hot tea."
